For from you the message of the Lord has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, so that we do not need to say anything.

but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts.

For you recall, brothers and sisters, our toil and drudgery: By working night and day so as not to impose a burden on any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

You are witnesses, and so is God, as to how holy and righteous and blameless our conduct was toward you who believe.

And so we too constantly thank God that when you received God's message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, God's message, which is at work among you who believe.

For you became imitators, brothers and sisters, of God's churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, because you too suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they in fact did from the Jews,

because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, but wrath has come upon them completely.

But when we were separated from you, brothers and sisters, for a short time (in presence, not in affection) we became all the more fervent in our great desire to see you in person.

So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone.

so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this.

For in fact when we were with you, we were telling you in advance that we would suffer affliction, and so it has happened, as you well know.

So when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter somehow tempted you and our toil had proven useless.

But now Timothy has come to us from you and given us the good news of your faith and love and that you always think of us with affection and long to see us just as we also long to see you!

So in all our distress and affliction, we were reassured about you, brothers and sisters, through your faith.

We pray earnestly night and day to see you in person and make up what may be lacking in your faith.

so that your hearts are strengthened in holiness to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Finally then, brothers and sisters, we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received instruction from us about how you must live and please God (as you are in fact living) that you do so more and more.

For this is God's will: that you become holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality,

And indeed you are practicing it toward all the brothers and sisters in all of Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,

Now we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest who have no hope.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also we believe that God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep as Christians.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.

So then we must not sleep as the rest, but must stay alert and sober.

He died for us so that whether we are alert or asleep we will come to life together with him.

See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.

in everything give thanks. For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.